Forum: F-16 News

http://www.aetc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123174128

when they were showing this on the news it looked like the landing gear had collapsed but havent heard much about it since Hill's "bombing" took the news

F-16.net Sponsor

Photos posted on abc15.com

abc15.com wrote:

F-16 makes hard landing at Wickenburg airport
Reported by: Deborah Stocks
Last Update: 9:09 am

WICKENBURG, AZ -- Authorities say a military jet made an emergency landing at a small airport about 40 miles north of Phoenix Thursday morning.

Luke Air Force Base spokesperson Justin Oakes said the pilots did not have to eject from the F-16 fighter jet and were not injured.

Video from Air15 showed the jet sitting in a dirt strip between two runways at the airport.

The cockpit canopy was sitting open and several vehicles, including fire trucks, were standing by. There was what appeared to be a wheel lying in the dirt behind the aircraft.

Two medical helicopters were seen transporting two patients from the scene.

Oakes said the jet came in short of the runway but damage to the aircraft hasn't yet been determined. A cause of the engine failure will be investigated.

I wonder how much work that will take to fix.

Why is there only one AIM-9?

My guess... Nothing will be done to repair the airctraft. it's a Block 25. Most of them are being sent to the bone yard. She had a good long life. I remember her back at Hahn AB Germany back in the late 80's.

Looks like it was a gear up landing, The runway is only 6100 ft long, http://www.airnav.com/airport/E25

vinnie wrote:

Looks like it was a gear up landing

Looks like the gear collapsed, either due to the hard landing or leaving the runway surface?

Block25Crewchief wrote:

My guess... Nothing will be done to repair the airctraft. it's a Block 25. Most of them are being sent to the bone yard. She had a good long life.

I agree, she'll live on in replacement parts, (Wings, stabs, tail, canopy, etc) but I highly doubt she'll ever fly again as a whole.

At least she brought the guys down safely! Very Happy

Needless to say I'll be waiting to read the mishap report!

Keep 'em flyin' Thumb

TEG

what a shitty 2 weeks....

True, always shitty loosing anyone from the family. Sad

But looking on the flip-side, of the 4 Vipers and 5 pilots involved , the situation could have been MUCH worse.

TEG

Last edited by VarkVet on Oct 25, 2009 - 09:24 AM; edited 1 time in total

Is it speculation time yet?

I’ll go first … for some strange reason I think the motor was inadvertently shutdown in flight?

Why?
Jets configured for BFM, ACBT, rapid throttle movements, student pilot, finger on T-grip trigger when slamming from MAX to idle, then whoops!

I still remember the last one at LUKE … touch and go; gear up too soon (flaperons auto-up when handle is up) not enough airspeed, then whoops.

Not trying to be an a$$, but I get real frustrated when the Viper makes negative news like this in rapid succession, and with my 30 years of experience on various fighters, I know the Viper is the best.

I honestly believe the F-35 program is severely delayed (ORM to the max) because the people in power at LM know if they dust one off now … it may be curtains!

On a side note: If the Vikings lose tomorrow I will be in a real pissy mood Laughing

I'm just curious how much work it would take to fix the damage from that sort of incident...ie, a belly landing onto dirt. I imagine the engine would need to be pulled because of FOD, and it would need new lower stabilizers, but how well would the lower fuselage take damage like that, and is it reparable (in theory)?

Because it doesn't look that bad from the picture... sort of like a "it'll buff out" situation, but pictures can be deceiving.

If anyone has a picture of that aircraft before the mishap, please let us know. It's one of a few exemples of which we don't have a picture yet.

Greets,

Quote:

I'm just curious how much work it would take to fix the damage from that sort of incident...ie, a belly landing onto dirt. I imagine the engine would need to be pulled because of FOD, and it would need new lower stabilizers, but how well would the lower fuselage take damage like that, and is it reparable (in theory)?

The engine, wings and stabs will all be pulled. It'll be placed on a flatbed trailer and most likely be trucked staright to Davis-Monthan/AMARC which is about a 3 to 4 hour drive from there. I agree with TEG and Block25Crewchief. It will never fly again. Although the engine may be reused if it wasn't damaged too badly. That jet probably has close to 7000 hours on it and it just ain't worth fixing.

Another thought; most 2 seaters fly with a centerline tank on training missions, I guessing it got punched off somewhere in the desert prior the emergency landing.

Regards, El Guapo

Well the nozzle is open and gear isn't down or in view so that is not a good sign of the events...

03fomoco wrote:

Well the nozzle is open and gear isn't down or in view so that is not a good sign of the events...

In the video you briefly see part of a main wheel with tension strut just behind the jet.
Leading edge flaps came down when the wow switches disengaged from Tension struts.
I bet its real ugly in there (MWW) when they lift her!

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/F-16 ... 15462.html

Thanks for the video link, I don't think I can buy the engine failure or flameout part unless the gear was down when it happened.

It must say it is awsome the plane slid straight and the pilots just "hopped" overboard. It is getting harder and harder to swallow the bad news lately.

Forum: F-16 News

F-16 emergency lands at local airport